Mexico
Mexico: 44 killed in police ambushes, prison riot
Violence in Mexico claimed the lives of 15 federal police officers and 29 prison inmates in three separate incidents in Michoacán, Culiacán and Ciudad Juárez.
Mexico
US military has “boots on the ground” in Mexico?
Narco News quotes an alleged former CIA asset who says that a secret US Special Forces unit dubbed Task Force 7 has been operating in Ciudad Juárez for the past year.
Afghanistan
Afghan lithium bonanza bad break for Bolivia?
Is the Pentagon’s revelation of a mineral bonanza in Afghanistan aimed at driving down the price of lithium and thereby undercutting Bolivia’s efforts to bring on a new global source?
Planet Watch
Next: empty moralizing about web-surfing while driving
Even as officialdom lectures us about the dangers of using cell phones while driving, the auto industry is about to bring us dashboard web access—with no intervention from the authorities.
Planet Watch
Japanese robots to colonize Moon
The Japanese space agency is embarking on a mammoth $2.2 billion project to put humanoid robots on the moon and create an unmanned robot lunar base by 2020.
Iran
Iran: another leader of Tehran transport workers union arrested
Saeed Torabian, a board member of the Tehran bus drivers’ union (Vahed Syndicate), was arrested by Iranian security forces and is being held incommunicado, whereabouts unknown.
The Andes
Venezuela scores initial win in Exxon arbitration case
Venezuela’s government praised a ruling by a World Bank arbitration panel that should drastically limit compensation ExxonMobil is seeking for the nationalization of its Orinoco oil projects.
Mexico
Mexico: 39 killed in Chihuahua, Tamaulipas violence
Narco-violence claimed 39 lives in two northern Mexico states, as gunmen executed 19 at a Chihuahua rehab center and left 20 tortured bodies around Ciudad Madero, Tamaulipas.
Inner Asia
Ethnic clashes rock Kyrgyzstan —again
At least 23 people have been killed and more than 300 injured in clashes in Osh, Kyrgyzstan’s second largest city, between ethnic Kyrgyz and Uzbek residents.
New York City
Second Circuit rules NYC can withhold documents from 2004 RNC arrests
The Second Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that New York City can withhold documents related to the arrest of 1,800 protesters during the 2004 Republican National Convention.
New York City
NYC reaches $712.5 million settlement with WTC cleanup workers
Following two failed attempts, New York City reached a settlement with the 10,000 rescue and cleanup workers who became sick or injured from responding to the 9-11 attacks.
Iraq
Iraqi Kurds protest foreign aggression —and internal repression
Schoolchildren marched in Erbil against Iranian shelling of Iraqi Kurdistan, while Kurdish journalists have launched a campaign to demand justice in the torture-slaying of a colleague.